Patterns and Predictors of Children's Musical Engagement From an Aotearoa NZ Longitudinal Cohort
Date
Authors
Evans, Rebecca J
Yeom, Daniel
Tao, Amy
Ip, Ryan HL
Dean, Bronya
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
In this article, we investigate patterns of children's musical engagement across childhood and early adolescence in Aotearoa New Zealand to identify key factors that predict sustained participation in musical activities outside formal education. Using data from multiple waves of the Growing Up in New Zealand longitudinal cohort study, children's musical engagement was assessed across five activity domains: singing, listening to music, watching videos (including music), music activity participation, and attending music events. Engagement in each domain was categorised into four participation levels: None, Short‐term, Repeated, and Sustained. Longitudinal patterns were assessed with Sankey plots, and ordinal regression was used to predict engagement levels from socioeconomic variables, including maternal education, household structure, household income, gender, ethnicity, disability status, area‐level deprivation, and rurality. Our results show that engagement patterns shifted with age, with family singing decreasing and individualised music listening and video watching increasing over time. Gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic variables were key predictors of sustained engagement across activity domains. Children's musical engagement trajectories varied widely and were influenced by both individual characteristics and modifiable contextual factors. These findings highlight the need to consider equity of access and cultural relevance when supporting musical participation across childhood in New Zealand.Description
Keywords
General Science & Technology, childhood, cultural participation, extracurricular activities, longitudinal, music, parental, singing, participation
Source
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, ISSN: 0303-6758 (Print); 1175-8899 (Online), Wiley, 56(1). doi: 10.1002/snz2.70017
Publisher's version
Rights statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.